Over the last decades, the world’s population has been growing at a faster rate, resulting in
increased urbanisation, especially in developing countries. More than half of the global
population currently lives in urbanised areas with an increasing tendency. The growth of cities
results in a significant loss of vegetation cover, soil compaction and sealing of the soil surface
which in turn results in high surface runoff during high-intensity storms and causes the problem
of accelerated soil water erosion on streets and building grounds. Accelerated soil water erosion
is a serious environmental problem in cities as it gives rise to the contamination of aquatic
bodies, reduction of ground water recharge and increase in land degradation, and also results
in damages to urban infrastructures, including drainage systems, houses and roads.
Understanding the problem of water erosion in urban settings is essential for the sustainable
planning and management of cities prone to water erosion. However, in spite of the vast
existence of scientific literature on water erosion in rural regions, a concrete understanding of
the underlying dynamics of urban erosion still remains inadequate for the urban dryland
environments.
This study aimed at assessing water erosion and the associated socio-environmental
determinants in a typical dryland urban area and used the city of Windhoek, Namibia, as a case
study. The study used a multidisciplinary approach to assess the problem of water erosion. This
included an in depth literature review on current research approaches and challenges of urban
erosion, a field survey method for the quantification of the spatial extent of urban erosion in
the dryland city of Windhoek, and face to face interviews by using semi-structured
questionnaires to analyse the perceptions of stakeholders on urban erosion.